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Misha Media's life and photos as a chicago wedding photographer

:: my passion ::

Hi there! Thank you for stopping by and checking out my work. My
name is Michele Rivera and photography is my passion. I have a loving
husband and a 3 year old daughter. They are the love of my life and I
can't imagine life without them. I am a kid at heart and a mocha
frappucino / jamoca almond fudge kind of gal. I love my reality tv
shows! And a close second is Guitar Hero =D I have always loved the
arts by expressing myself through drawing and painting. Five years ago,
I discovered the art of photography and started shooting weddings.
Photography allows me to express my creativity and artistic flare and
enables others to view the world through my eyes.

Thank you for allowing me to share my passion... I love what I do, so I do what I love!

Enough about me... how 'bout you? Send me an email, call or text! I would love to hear from you!

Category Archives: destination weddings

robilyn & darell

02.28.10

“Felicitaciones a Robilyn y Darell!” That means “Congratulations to Robilyn & Darell” in Spanish. We had the honor and privilege of photographing their wedding on the beach in Cancun, Mexico at the beautiful Hilton Cancun Golf & Spa Resort. Their wedding invitation and save the date card totally set the tone for their beach themed wedding! From A to Z, they had all of their bases covered and everything was perfect – even the weather… We did have the dramatic clouds and imminent rain, but luckily, the rain waited and allowed them to have their beach ceremony and outdoor reception.

Thank you once again for choosing Misha Media! Your friends and families are beautiful inside and out and we hope that you’ll forever remember all the love, laughter, and togetherness during this Valentine’s week in Cancun. We will forever remember our time with you… This was our first beach wedding and it couldn’t have been any better!

Here are our favorites.

Such a stunning bride!

And a handsome groom!

Ceremony

I loved their parasol! Our first again!

Darell is showing respect to Robilyn’s dad by taking his hand and placing it on his forehead while bowing. It is also called “mano”. It is a Filipino tradition for a younger person to show their respect by “blessing” to their elderlies (ie. grandparents, parents, aunts & uncles).

Immediately after their ceremony, we had some time to photograph them with their bridal party… Of course at the beach, where else?! :)

“Flight” : A Jordan inspired shot…

View more photos of the Hilton Cancun here.

There’s a fish in their center piece!

Hello Kitty Love!

Their wedding favors…

These were their cocktail stirrers.

Want more?? click below!

Check out their slideshow set to music.

Or click below to view it in a more traditional slideshow.

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robilyn & darell :: wedding rehearsal

02.22.10

Here are some shots from Robilyn & Darell’s wedding rehearsal. One word summarizing their rehearsal = organized! I usually do not get a bride and groom who are so actively part of the whole planning process. It’s usually one or the other, but with these two, they had their own personal tasks and they shined in all tasks involved! Robilyn with her very creative skills taking care of all the details of the wedding. If you haven’t seen their wedding invitation yet, click here! She had made everything from scratch! And Darell with his awesome organizational skills… you both rock!

Photography is all about light! When we photographed Robilyn & Darell’s wedding rehearsal, I knew that the lighting that we had during the rehearsal wasn’t going to be the same lighting that we’d have for their actual wedding… It was a good 4 hour difference between the two… So when I saw this shot, I was a little sad that I wouldn’t be able to get it on their wedding day, but at least I got it for their rehearsal… This is Dad & Robilyn during the procession… They were walking down a small hill overlooking their ceremony site on the beach… Aside from the beautiful blue skies, it was super windy that day! And we actually didn’t even get the clear blue skies on their wedding day, but overcast with clouds… (blog post coming later)…

After the rehearsal, they had a pool side luncheon for their friends and families.

They also had a surprise birthday cake for Darell’s mom :)

Next blog : Robilyn & Darell’s Wedding

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robilyn & darell :: engaged!

02.21.10

Over Valentine’s day weekend, we had the honor and pleasure of photographing Robilyn & Darell’s beach wedding. Remember when I photographed their wedding here in Chicago? Well, this is part 2 of their wedding celebration. They chose the beautiful Hilton Cancun Golf & Spa Resort! But before I blog on their wedding photos, I wanted to blog on their engagement session first. As expected, we all had a blast exploring the grounds of their hotel…

The next photo needs some explaining… The staff at the Hilton Cancun was nice enough to allow us to photograph on their Golf Course and they actually brought us to this sleeping croc… Needless to say I was terrified of this gigantic thing just chillin’ on the green… I was shooting with a wide angle lens, and kept creeping up to him to get my framing… and when I finished shooting, I realized that I was A LOT closer than I thought… haha… Anything to get the shot, right?

I loved the little petal details on Robilyn’s dress!

There isn’t really a true golden “sunset” in Cancun… at least from our hotel side, but we did manage to get a little bit of color as the sun was coming down…

I really loved shooting on the beach because we don’t have beaches in Chicago…

Thank you for the laughs Robilyn & Darell!

Many many more photos to come…

Stay tuned for a few photos from their Rehearsal… then more photos from their Wedding… then lastly, more photos from their Rock the Dress Session…

Lots coming up on the blog, so please check back! :) or RSS feed it!

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the Knot Best of Weddings 2010

01.21.10

We have been selected as one of the Knot’s Best of Weddings 2010! It’s truly an honor and a blessing to be chosen for this award. We thank all the brides, grooms, and fans who have voted for us. Without you guys, this would not have been possible. Thank you so much for your support! This is such a huge motivator for us to keep going! Thank you! It was kinda like winning the lotto, not that I’ve had any personal experience or anything, but I had to look multiple times to make sure that our name was really there… =D

Thank you! Michele & Andy

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destination wedding invites

01.15.10

We have been fortunate to be commissioned for four destination weddings in 2010 and I wanted to share an awesome, awesome idea from one of them… Do you remember Robilyn and Darell? They actually got married last 09.09.09 in front of their immediate families and they are planning to have another celebration at the Hilton Cancun in Mexico next month! It’s always nice to receive our clients’ wedding invitations in the mail. It makes us feel really welcome and part of their celebration. When I received their save the date and wedding invitation, I was blown away! Such creativity and thoughtfulness went into the whole idea of having a destination wedding, from their save the date, to their wedding invitation. I simply LOVED it! I had to ask Robilyn if I could blog on their invites… And of course she said yes =D. These were all designed by Robilyn herself. She is so creative and her attention to detail is remarkable! I cannot wait to see the details at their wedding! Their last names were edited out for their privacy…

Here’s their save the date cards, which totally set the tone for their guests! And Misha Media is always passport ready…

Look at the details that were added to it! Amazing!

And here’s their wedding invitation…

We usually book our own flights for our destination weddings and when I received this in the mail, I totally thought it was the real plane tickets… I totally fell for it!